Slack-adjuster.



W. H. SAUVAGE.

SLACK ADJUSTER.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 25. 1,916.

Patented May 29, 191?.

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analysis of this invention.

TUNTTEB STATE PATENT FFTE..

WILLIAM E. SAUVAGE, OF IELUSHING, NEW YORK, .ASSIGNOR TO GO'ULD COUPLER COMPANY, A CGRPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

SLACK-ADJUSTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, i917.

App1ication led January 25, 1916. Serial No. 74,191.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, citizen of the United States and resident of Flushing, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slack-Adjusters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to slack adjusters for the brake rigging of railway cars, and in its more intense aspect to automatic slack adjusters particularly adapted for associa tion with the brake rigging of car trucks.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simple and practical automatic slack adjuster mechanism which will be reliable and efhcient in use and operation. A further object is to provide a slack adjuster mechanism of the above general character having relatively few parts which are not likely to get out of order and will be cheap to manufacture and install.

@ther objects will be in part obvious from the annexed drawings and in part indicated in connection therewith by the following This invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of parts and in the unique relation of the members and in the relative proportioning and disposition thereof, all as more completely outlined herein.

To enable others skilled in the art so full to comprehend the underlying features thereof that they may embody the same by the numerous modifications in structure and relation contemplated by this invention, drawings depicting a preferred form have been annexed as a part of this disclosure, and in such drawings, like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout all the views, in which- Figure 1 is a Side elevation showing such parts of a truck and associated brake rigging, partly in section, as are necessary to fully understand the present invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are detail views.

Fig. 4 is a detail vertical sectional view of the permanent take up and holding means.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and more particularly to Fig. 1, 5 denotes a truck bolster to each side of which are pivotally supported hangers 6 carrying brake beam struts 7 connected with brake beams 8 provided with the usual heads and shoes.

Associated with these struts are live and dead levers 10 and 11 respectively, the dead lever being hung at its upper end 12 to an adjustable hanger while the corresponding end of the live lever is connected to a pull rodvl connected with the usual actuating mechanism (not shown). The lower ends of these levers are connected by a two part telescopicpush rod comprising an internal or'smaller member 14 and an outer casing 15.

Nithin a housing 16 formed in the member 15 are positioned one or more substantially rectangular dogs 17 having holes therein through which the rod 14 passes and normally held in canted position by a spiral spring 1S in such a manner as to prevent normally an inward telescopic movement of the parts yet permit free expansion thereof as may be necessary to take up and permanently hold the excess travel or slack due to wear of the parts.

This permanent take up or positive clutch mechanism is connected with an adjusting rod 20 mounted upon and connecting depending lugs 21 on each of the brake beams. At one end there is provided a lost motion connection including a short slot 22 through which passes a pin 22 adapted to maintain predetermined brake shoe clearance, while at the opposite end is a friction take up device 23 shown in detail in Fig. 2 adapted to travel along a slot'24. This friction or temporary take up device may be of any desired character, but preferably comprises a pair of spring actuated or yieldingly held members engaging the opposite sides of the adjusting rod 20. One end of the adjusting rod is shown more clearly in Fig. 2 and comprises a socket 25 within which fits a half ball washer 26, with a flaring central opening fitting about a stud 27 adapted to permit relative rocking movement of the adjusting rod 2O about its longitudinal aXis. A volute spring 28 engages one side of the hanger 21 and reacts against the head 29 of the stud 27 thereby to yieldingly grip the rod 2O between the washers carried by the stud on the opposite side of the hanger. The other end is supported in a similar manner as far as the universal joint connection is concerned, for in operation there is more or less rocking and swaying of the parts with respect to each other, and in order to prevent wear of either the hangers 21 or the adjusting rod 20 these half ball hangers are found to be particularly desirable.

In order to restore the parts to normal po.- sition on release of the brakes a return spring 30 is connected with the central part of the live lever and the opposite brake beam substantially as shown.

The device operates in substantially the following manner: Application of the brakes causes a movement of the upper end of the live lever toward the right which will react through the push ,rod 15 upon the dead lever 11 and carry the brake shoesv into engagement with the peripheries of the wheels. If excess' travel takes place above that allowed for by the lost-motion slot 22 there will be a relative slippingof the yielding friction take up device 23 along the slot 24 an amount corresponding to this excess travel. On release of the brakes, t-he spring 30 tends to restore the parts to normal position, and after the brake shoes have i'irst dropped away from the peripheries of the wheel, as permitted by the lost motion slot 22, further movement of the brake beams relatively toward each other will be prevented until the telescopic push rod has been actuated to permanently take up and hold the excess travel by being automatically extended an amount equal thereto.

It is thus seen that the present invention provides a simple and practical take up device for permanentlyabsorbing the excess travel of brake rigging due to wear of the parts. rIhe device is -simple and 'practical in construction and operation, and is believed to accomplish, among others, all of the objects and advantages above set forth.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily ada-pt it for various applications without omitting` certain features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention, and therefore such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and rangel of equivalency of the following claims.

I claim- 1. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, a telescopic push rod connecting said levers, brake beams and struts associated with said levers, a temporary take up and holding means connecting the brake beams comprising a relatively flat rod having a lost motion slot at one end and a yielding friction clamp de-y vice at its other end.

2. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever, a telescopic push rod connecting said. levers, brake beams and struts associated with said levers, a teinporary take up and holding means connecting the b 1ake beams comprising a relatively flat rod having a lost motion slot at one end and a yielding friction clamp device at its other end, and a return spring connecting the central part of the live lever with the brake beam associated with the dead lever.

3. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a

live lever, a dead lever, a telescopic push rod connecting' said levers, brake beams and struts associated with said levers, a temporary take up and holding means connecting the brake beams comprising a relatively flat rod having a lost motion slot at one end and a yielding friction clamp device at its other, the points of connection between said adjusting rod and the brake beams including a ball and socket joint adapted to permit relative turning movement of said rod.

et. In a slack adjust-er, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever at opposite sides of the truck bolster, a two part extensible push rod connecting the ends of said levers having a positive permanent take up and holding device cooperating between the effective ends thereof, brake beams and struts associated with the respective levers, an adjusting rod connecting said brake beams having a lost motion slot at one end adapted to provide for brake shoe clearance, a yielding friction clamp at the other end adapted to temporarily take up the excess travel, ball and socket connections between the adjusting rod and the brake beams, and a return spring for restoring the parts to normal position intermediate of one of the brake beams and the live lever.

5. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a dead lever at opposite sides of the truck bolster, a two part extensible push rod connecting the ends of said levers having a positive permanent take up and holding device coperating between the effective ends thereof, brake beams and struts associated with the respective levers, an adjusting rod connecting said brake beams having a lost motion slot at one end adapted to provide for brake shoe clearance, and a yielding friction clamp at the other end adapted to temporarily take up the excess travel.

6. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a telescopic push rod having means adapted to permanently take up and hold the excess travel and an adjusting rod associated with one of said parts and having a universal joint connection at one of its points of support.

7. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a lever, permanent take up and holding mechanism associated with said lever and temporary take up and holding mechanism adapted to actuate the former on release of the brakes, said last named mechanism including an adjusting rod having a yielding friction dogs for positively holding the eX-' cess slack and an adjusting rod connecting the brake beams for temporarily taking up the excess travel.

9. ln a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck frame, hangers mounted thereon, brake beams and struts carried by said hangers, live and dead levers associated with said beams, a two-part telescopic push rod connecting said levers having spring actuated friction dogs i'or positively holding the eX- cess slack and an adjusting rod connecting the brake beams for temporarily taking up the excess travel, said adjusting rod comprising a relatively fiat member having slots near its ends, one of which slots is adapted to provide predetermined brake shoe clearance While the other permits a temporary taking up of the excess travel of the brake rigging.

l0, In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a telescopic push rod having means adapted to permanently take up and hold the excess'travel, an adjusting rod associated with one of said parts having a universal joint connection at one of its points of support and a spring associated With said universal joint to maintain a desired degree of friction.

l1. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a live lever, a telescopic push rod having means adapted to permanently take up and hold the excess travel, an adjusting rod associated with one of said parts having a universal joint connection at one of its points of support, and a spring acting between the live lever and the opposite brake beam adapted to aid in returning the parts to normal position.

Signed at N ew York in the county of New York and State of New York this 16th day of December' A. D. 1915.

VVLLIAM H. SAUVAGE.

Copies of this patent :may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

